I Want My Dad PV Simon Kincaid Finished

Curfew was so early at Hogwarts. It seemed that students barely finished up with their supper and it was already time to retreat back to their common rooms and dormitories for the night. If he had been back in London, Simon would have had the freedom of several more hours before his Aunt Maggie even began to set a time on him and on many occasions she would extend it without hesitation.

He supposed though that keeping track of one non-adult individual was a lot easier than an entire student body of them and it wasn't as if Hogwarts didn't have reason to worry about their students - there had been hags, killer dolls, murders in the neighboring wizarding town, creatures in the Forbidden Forest that awakened at night.

So when Simon saw the figure of a girl in the distance he knew he had to perform his prefect duties and tell her it was time to come inside the castle for the evening. He was fairly sure he could make out Slytherin colors but she was at a distance and even his enlarged dhampir pupils could only provide him with so much extra sight in these low light conditions as the sky in the late dusk.

Simon approached quietly, as the girl seemed to be downtrodden. It was easy to tell from her stance and he wondered if she had felt this way for all of supper but remained strong until she was alone (or well, thought she was alone) and was now able to let out her emotions. He came close just as she was wiping away some tears and whispered a statement.

It took him a moment before he made interaction with the girl as he processed what she said. She wanted her dad. Obviously she was rather close with him or wished she was closer with him because she used the term 'dad.' Simon thought of his own father who he was beginning to get to know and never would refer to him as 'dad' but only 'father.' Something seemed more intimate and loving in using the term 'dad' and that just didn't seem to fit Adrian Hawthorne in his eyes.

"It can be hard to miss those we love," he said as he moved his enchanted satchel more forward and opened the flap, rustling around in it for a moment before he pulled out one of those travel sized packs of tissues and extended them outward toward her.

Interacting with @Simon Kincaid
Astra speaking: #136323
Thoughts: Italics
Others: Bold

Astra jumped slightly, wiping her eyes furiously and taking a shaky breathe as a male voice from above said, "It can be hard to miss those we love." She looked up with red eyes, sniffing, to see a blond boy, around fifteen or so, holding out a tiny packet of tissues her mum always seemed to have.

Her mum.

She bit her lip, stifling more tears at this simple gesture. Astra felt her pride and resolve slipping away as she reached up and took the tissues, forcing a strained "Thank you" out while trying to hold herself together. She didn't like it when people saw her cry, especially not strangers and especially not boys. You've got Roderick to thank for that last inhibition, sometimes older brothers are jerks.

She blew her nose into one tissue and took out another to wipe her eyes. "Do you miss your parents anymore?" she found herself asking, peering up at the boy, who she could now see was a Hufflepuff. Surely he's grown out of that, what a stupid question. Big kids don't miss their parents. They're used to being away. Right? She waited on the boys answer, wiping her eyes every so often to keep her tears inside. Perhaps talking would help distract her.

"That's a complicated question," he said as he looked out to the grounds, trying to ensure he didn't look too directly at the girl. She might find more comfort in that since some felt self-conscious when they were crying and it also helped not draw notice to his overly-enlarged, perhaps-not-human (because they weren't) eyes that dilated so big. If he was there to help someone, the last thing he wanted was to scare them off.

"I miss my Aunt Maggie and my muggle friends back in London all the time. Every day." Simon walked over to where some students had made a sort of make-shift bench near those trees with a fallen one and sat down, patting the space beside him in a non-verbal invitation for her to sit. "But I don't remember my mother which is most unfortunate because she seemed to be amazing from what I've heard from all that knew her. She went here to Hogwarts - was a Gryffindor. I've only recently just found my father and that's been......a process."

A rather unusual process. Most were born and had their father's name listed on their birth certificate and didn't have to find out their identity over a decade later. Simon was now currently working on getting to know his father, as well as his extended family of sorts that lived with him. The Hufflepuff wasn't entirely sure if they were odd because they were vampires or if they were odd even for vampires.

"It's perfectly acceptable to miss them. Tell me a little bit about them." Maybe in talking about her parents and any potential siblings or other family members she'd feel a little better.

Interacting with @Simon Kincaid
Astra speaking: #136323
Thoughts: Italics
Others: Bold

Astra sat beside the boy, studying the ground intently. It seemed the warmth of another person was helping to calm her, and she found herself sitting rather close. She felt rather bad for asking him about his parents, reminded that not everyone had a family like hers. Not everyone had the privilege of having two loving parents, two living parents, two parents who still loved each other. "I'm sorry about your mum," she whispered, trusting her voice a little more now.

The way he spoke was calming, as if he dealt with this sort of thing often. But then again some people were just good at this, and it wouldn't surprise Astra if it was a Hufflepuff thing. She sniffed again, preparing to talk about her family. "Well, m-my mum, and my dad, they went to Hogwarts, too. My dad was a Gryffindor, too. He, he works as an Auror now. He's really nice. He likes history a lot an-and tells a lot of stories." She feels herself tearing up again. "He's really talkative, too. I-" and here her voice breaks again "-It's sometimes really annoying but I miss it a lot." Astra looks down again, wiping her eyes once more.

"My mum does research about m-magic and Muggles. She's a scientist. She, she likes reading like me." Astra doesn't want to talk about Roderick. He's here, and he's been such a jerk recently. Angry tears mix in with the sad tears when she thinks about this summer, Diagon Alley, basically everything since Rod turned thirteen.

"I'm sorry, it must be curfew, right?" She tries to distract herself by switching topics. She's not quite ready to go back, but the sun is setting and the Hufflepuff is wearing a prefect badge. He must have come out to get her.

"That sounds amazing. I bet being an auror could be very stressful at times, but is quite valiant and I'm sure he's seen some interesting things. I like people that talk a lot, you know where their mind is." Plus, it was a bit trickier to learn about someone who kept themself so shielded. Luckily, the Slytherin girl was talking some and not being such.

As for family, he still really didn't have much to share. His mother had worked in a cafe, doing her best to care for her sister after losing both her parents just after graduation and then eventually trying to care for her younger sister and deal with a newborn baby. Still he just said that it was easier to get to know someone if they talked, so maybe he'd say a bit on it. "My mum worked in a cafe but what she really wanted was to own a flower shop. My father - he's a pastor of sorts," although now that Simon thought about it, he wondered exactly who he would be a religious leader for - the other vampires? Perhaps. Maybe he was just a man of God as in devoting himself to him.

"I like reading, too," Simon perked up, glad to meet another reader; especially one that wasn't from Ravenclaw. "My favorite author is probably F. Scott Fitzgerald."

Simon turned his wrist to check his wind-up watch that he often wore. "Technically it's now past curfew, but it's cool, it's cool." There was no need to worry. "You're with a prefect and I think it's safe to say that you're in good hands." That was quite true, as he was a dhampir. With his increased strength and fast reflexes, he was pretty sure he could take on anything that could possibly harm her, along with his fangs and claws and whatnot - when extracted.

"I suppose we should make introductions since we're partners in crime here past curfew. I'm Simon, Simon Kincaid."

Interacting with @Simon Kincaid
Astra speaking: #136323
Thoughts: Italics
Others: Bold

Astra's head tilted inquisitively, and she looked at the boy as he spoke, almost forgetting for a moment about her homesickness. "Your mum sounds like a lovely person," she said quietly, her mind drawn to Aunt Seren with the mention of flowers. The Hufflepuff didn't sound quite so sure about his father. And he keeps calling him "father," never dad or anything, but he calls his mum "mum." She didn't ask about it.

A smile crept on her face as the boy mentioned he enjoyed reading. "He wrote The Great Gatsby, didn't he? My mum likes that one. She likes loads of old Muggle books," Astra said. "I guess I do, too. I really love The Lord of the Rings."

Astra tensed up but soon relaxed as the prefect reassured her that it was okay to be out, since she was with him. And really, he exuded a sort of stability, or safety, and she felt comfortable out here with him.

She shelved his name in her mind. Simon. Biblical name. "I'm Astra Norrick," she said. She was happy to find she no longer felt quite so sad, nor did it feel like tears were fighting to push out of her eyes. "Pretty sunset, isn't it?" She wrapped her robes tightly around her, a little bit chilly in the night air. A welcome change from summer's blistering heat, though. "What year are you in, Simon? I'm in first, but you could probably tell that."

"Tender is the Night is my favorite, but yea - he wrote The Great Gatsby. That's the one he's most famous for." It was also a good read. "I like his writing style, how it flows, how fluent he is and really captures imagery. I'd love to have such a way with words - maybe I'd actually consider becoming a musician someday or maybe be able to properly tell my girlfriend just how much she means to me. I dunno, maybe even be a poet and inspire people to change the world or uplift them in dark times." It would be an amazing profession, but it didn't seem one destined for him and he was okay with that. There were other amazing things he ventured for his future and was eager to see where he'd end up.

"Astra,.... I like that," he said with a smile. And he did. It was very astrological sounding and very wizarding world. He loved hearing some of the unique names that the wizarding world brought into light as well as reclaimed some old traditional names that was forgotten by most. He met a Cordelia and Ignatius his first day at Hogwarts as well as a Cygnus and Polaris. Back in London, his classes were always filled with Harrys and Williams, with Olivias and Charlottes; other Simons, too.

"Pleasure to meet you, Astra," he said and wondered if her shift in position was because she was getting comfortable or if she was getting a little chilly. The chill usually didn't bother him but his temperature was always a little off when you thought of a human's perspective anyway. "It's a very beautiful sunset. I've always preferred sunset to sunrise," and especially a mid-day sun. "I really like what it does to the clouds and that bright pink highlight against the purple clouds is amazing. We don't get to see sunsets in London - too many buildings in the way."

The Scottish Highlands were beautiful.

"I'm a Fourth Year. Gettin' pretty old, you know? Up there. You know, I'm not some impressive auror or actually a father but if you ever need someone to go to for advice or just to talk - I'd be happy to help." He couldn't fill the void or role of her father, but maybe he could help her not miss him just a little.

Simon glanced over to her and smiled and then looked forward fairly quickly, hoping that the low lighting of the setting sun wasn't causing his pupils to widely dilate - not the way they would for a normal human, but the way they did for him as a normal dhampir which was much MUCH larger.

Interacting with @Simon Kincaid
Astra speaking: #136323
Thoughts: Italics
Others: Bold

Astra shelved the name of the book in her mind. Tender is the Night. Sounds interesting. She would definitely make an effort to read it after she finished her annual Hobbit re-read. She was surprised when Simon expressed a "wish" to have a way with words. "I think you have a way with words. You speak really... poetically, I guess. I'm sure your girlfriend would say the same." She had dabbled in writing before, but didn't think she had the skill to become successful. Music, on the other hand... "I'm not very good with words. I do enjoy music, though. I want to become a composer one day."

She blushed in the fading light at his compliment. "Thank you... It's my aunt's name, too. My dad and aunts all have star-themed names, but Aunt Aces is the most obvious." Pulling her legs up to her chest, she rested her chin on her knees, trying to beat the chill before it set in. "I think I like sunsets better, too. They seem softer, more relaxed." With a smile, Astra said, "Aye, those pesky London buildings get in the way of out Richmond sunsets, too."

She was surprised at his offer, but very grateful. "Thank you, Simon. Thank you a lot." Am I really tearing up again? She blinked and sniffed, the corners of her eyes now damp at the kind gesture. Getting out another tissue, she dabbed at her eyes.

"Ugh, I'm a mess." Her thoughts wandered to her brother and her best friend, both who she currently had some sort of issue with. Roderick had become distant after the Ball, even though they were supposed to be working on getting closer. He'd started skipping breakfast and wouldn't respond when she called out to him throughout the day.

And Renelle... well, Astra preferred not to think about that right now. It was bizarre and made her brain hurt, and usually caused confused crying. "Do you have any siblings, Simon?" she asked. Maybe tackling one problem would help her focus on the other one. "My brother... he's been avoiding me for a few days now. We were trying to spend more time together and then all of a sudden he stopped. I don't know what to do. We used to be really close, but-" She sniffed again, blinking hard.

Go away tears.

She was having a hard time and he hated that for his new friend. Simon leaned to the side to pull his enchanted satchel closer to him and opened it, bring out a baggie of lemon drops and took one out, popping it into his mouth before offering the bag to her. "Lemon drop? Lemon drops make lots of things better," at least so he thought. They did seem to help when he was stuck on a particular part of his music, or got writer's block in an essay. They were also the only candy he enjoyed as he didn't really favorite sweet tasting things.

"That's got to be really hard. Maybe he's just getting settled into a new year and once things are calmer for him, he'll come around. I hope so." And he really did. He could tell it was quite painful for her.

"No siblings here. My father assures me that I haven't any - guess I have to take his word for it - and my mum, she passed away when I was three. I've always lived with my Aunt Maggie who is absolutely amazing but even she just recently got engaged. I've lots of friends back in London though and while I can't say that they're like having a sibling, I understand the homesickness. I miss Aunt Maggie and I miss my church and I miss my friends."

"So what would you want to do with Roderick? Check out a secret passage? Steal into Hogsmeade during your first year? Practice some broom sports or partake in some wizarding photography? I could help with some of that stuff."